Lani Says: In the Summer Time

Summer in Eagle Rock has always been a time of fun, ease and possibility.

School is finally out and students can spend the time that had been taken up studying for finals on seeing their family and friends. They can sleep into the afternoon, procrastinate on starting their summer reading lists and maybe (maybe) even anticipate the beginning of the next school year. And we can all add to the catalogue of summer memories that come from living in Eagle Rock.

For me, the Concerts in the Park, with music from The Beatles or Santana playing well into the night, is inseparable from the childhood memory of running barefoot around Eagle Rock Park, hands sticky with melted snow cone. (Concerts in the Park start this year on Sunday, July 1.) The Fourth of July celebrations are another example of summertime sensory overload, with the baseball fields of the park spotted with blankets, lawn chairs, ice chests, and vintage cars, the air thick with summer heat and smells of barbecue and the sounds of music and laughter, as everyone awaits the fireworks.

Some of my other favorite summer activities have included attending the farmer’s markets filled with the produce of the season (Friday evenings at the Eagle Rock City Hall), packing up the towels and the sunscreen and heading to Yosemite Pool (opening day is Sunday, June 10), riding bikes up and down the streets of Hill Drive and heading down to Fosters Freeze (built in 1962) for some soft serve to help beat the heat.

And if the outdoors is not your style, you can always find some local shows, visit museums, explore downtown or gather up some money for nearby fairs and amusement parks.

Summer, as always, will come and go in the blink of an eye, so Carpe solem! And have a happy Summer!